Seth Finds His Love
by ClearwaterInnocence
Summary: Naruto-Fem Crossover. Seth never thought he would imprint. Naruko, an immortal maiden ninja alone in the world never thought she would find someone she could love. Then Naruko moves to La Push. Seth goes to a diner. There's a jolt, and love and first sight works its wonder. Too bad Naruko has given up on anyone romantically loving her but Seth's not willing to give up just yet.


Naruko Uzumaki:

I looked down at the picture in my hand. It was the last picture I held with everyone of importance to me in it. It was one of my most prized possessions. All of us were different in one way or the other. The one thing we had in common that we all wore a plate of metal in a headband style fashion. First, there was Granny Tsunade in the back. Tsunade was a woman in her seventy's that looked really young, like she was in her late twenties instead. She had taken to using her headband as a built. She had long blonde hair in two pigtails, a huge chest, and amber colored eyes. Tsunade was the leader of our village despite the fact that she was also a huge drunk. When I first met Tsunade, I made a bet with her. I won, even if it did nearly cost me my life. She was also the strongest medic ninja our world had to offer. She was screaming at someone else in the picture.

The one she was screaming at was Jiraya, my godfather. He was Tsunade's age, they were old teammates. He had long white hair, red markings on his face under his grey eyes, his headband tied around his forehead. Jiraya was just as strong as Tsunade and once considered for the position to be leader of our village. It was he who suggested Tsunade instead. While Tsunade was a drunk, Jiraya was a huge pervert. When I first met him, I was thirteen and he was trying to peek in on the women's bath houses. He just better be lucky I wasn't in there when I caught him or there would be hell to pay. He also pushed me off a cliff trying to 'teach me'. I did learn in the end but that didn't make it anymore less annoying. He was being screamed at Tsunade because he had been trying to wrap an arm around her to grope her. He was cowering behind this perverted book he wrote.

There was another adult in our group. His name was Iruka and he was younger, in his late twenties. Iruka-sensei had dark skin, gentle brown eyes, a scar over his nose, a head of brown hair in a ponytail, and his headband was tied around his forehead. Iruka wasn't near as strong as Jiraya and Tsunade but was still strong in his own right. Iruka was a kind man who was one of the first to see me for who I truly was. I first met him when I was seven and he was my teacher. He seemed to hate me at first but after saving me from someone who tried to trick me due to my innocence and naiveté, we started becoming closer. I never knew my parents so I always wondered if the relationship between me and Iruka was what a father would be like with his daughter, even if he didn't raise me. Iruka was the first one to tell me the meaning of the 'will of fire' that our village has, to do all that you can, that you're the strongest when protecting someone you love. He was looking sheepish standing in the corner of the picture, staring at Tsunade yelling at Jiraya.

There was one last adult in our group. His name was Kakashi Hatake and he was in his mid-thirties when this picture was taken. Kakashi-sensei had pale skin from what little you could see, and white hair that always stuck up. He wore a black mask that covered the lower half of his face and his own leaf marked headband was tilted so it covered one of his eyes. The only eye that you could see was a grey color. Kakashi was my teacher after I graduated from Iruka's class. I first met him when I was thirteen, before I met Jiraya. Kakashi was a lazy teacher but did teach us a few things, although he did spend more time on Sasuke-teme's training. But Kakashi was important to me. Although I always didn't know it, Kaksahi protected me from death multiple times when I was little. I had a rough childhood to say. Iruka was like the uncle of the group, who was in love with Jiraya's books, he always seemed to have one in hand. Currently, he was standing beside Iruka, glancing up from one of the perverted books he had been reading to watch the screaming Tsunade was doing with his usual bored expression.

On the far right was Chouji Akimichi, age eighteen. Chouji had tan skin with long messy brownish hair he wore his headband in, with dark brown eyes. Chouji was a friend of mine. We first met during the academy when we started training when we were seven. He was one of the few people I often skipped classes with. Our little group, myself being the only female, were considered the academy losers. We had all become strong over time but Chouji was often very fat, still is, although the word is Taboo when it comes to him. He's been someone I cared about, even came with me on a mission to retrieve Sasuke-Teme when we were thirteen and nearly died for it. Just like always, he didn't seem interested in anything other than stuffing his face with chips.

Beside Chouji was his best friend, Shikamaru Naru, age nineteen. Shikamaru was a tall boy with messy black hair in a ponytail, his headband tied around his upper arm, with lazy brown eyes. Shikamaru was one of my precious people and also in the group of boys I would skip classes with. We also met in the academy. Shikamaru was the first person to stand up for Chouji which led to them becoming friends. He may be the laziest ninja you'll ever meet but be warned, he's also the smartest and can come up with a plan within seconds if he has to. He was in mid-yawn, obviously not wanting to be there at all.

He was only here because of the third member beside him. Her name was Ino Yamanaka, age eighteen. Ino was a skinny girl with long bleach blonde hair in a ponytail and pale blue eyes, using her headband as a belt. Ino was the girly girl, the one who dieted every day to keep her figure because she was obsessing over this one boy who didn't even care for her and still didn't. I also met her in the academy although she usually scorned me back then because I didn't care about the boy she liked. She was currently in a yelling match of her own, glaring at the person with her fists waved above her head, face flushed.

The one who was yelling at her was Sakura Haruna, age eighteen. Sakura was a girl with short pink hair, actual natural pink colored hair, with bright light green eyes, her headband being used to hold her hair back.. Sakura used to hit me all the time since we met in the academy because all I did was mock the one she loved, who happened to be the same guy as Ino's. Sakura used to be a huge pain but after this fight in this competition when we were thirteen changed her for the better. She became kinder and more determined to make something of herself. She then trained under Tsunade and has become a powerful medic ninja, becoming and proving to be just as good and strong as her teacher was. She was yelling at Ino over something stupid like always. Despite always fighting, they were the best of friends, having gotten over their contest to see who would get Sasuke-kun first. She had a fist clutched to her chest, looking ready to pumbel Ino as she reached for the gloves in her side pack.

Kiba Inuzuka stood on the other side of them. Kiba was a boy, age eighteen, with short messy brown hair, tan skin, and brown eyes, his headband tied around his forehead. I met Kiba in the academy, the last boy in our little group that I skipped classes with. Kiba used to mock me all the time, liking to make fun of me because I was a girl trying to fit in with the guys since the girls in our class never interested me. Kiba was also a clan heir, like many of the people the picture held. He sat on his ninja hound, a huge dog named Akamaru. He used to be a puppy who could sit on Kiba's head but after three years, the dog shot up and now nearly towered over everybody. He was looking annoyed, glaring at the two girls who were shrieking their lungs off.

The last one in the row was Shino Abruama, age nineteen. He had curly brown hair but his eyes were always hidden by his sunglasses as his eyes were sensitive to light, and his face often hidden by the coat, his headband on his forehead. He wasn't always into crowds, he was usually just there, sitting back and watching the show. He was obsessed with bugs and knew everything about them from what I could see. Many people thought he was weird because of his bugs and often scorned him for it so he didn't have many, if any, friends outside his clan. You couldn't tell what Shino was thinking but then again, you never could.

In the last row were three final people. On the left end was Hinata Hyuuga, age eighteen. Hinata had super long straight bluish colored hair, a body to die for, her headband tied as a necklace around her neck, and fair skin, her eyes were pupil less, a light lavender shade coloring. Her entire family had their eyes that way; it was because of their bloodline that was too complicated for me to explain. Simplest way was to just say they knew the vital points of the body and knew how to stop someone with a few hits on the body. She was also one of my best friends. I met her in the academy and she was the first girl that didn't hate me. She had shy issues but I try breaking her out of it. At least she didn't blush and turn into a blubbering fool like she used to. She was tapping her fingers, looking at the arguing couples nervously, blushing while she tried to calm them down but her words were drowned out by the noise.

On the right side was Sasuke Uchiha, age eighteen. Sasuke had short black hair that stuck up in the back, really pale skin, and dark grey eyes that were often black because of his anger issues. Sasuke has problems. We were rivals throughout our entire lives but…I secretly thought of him as the brother I would never have. We've fought our entire lives, always challenging and trying to one top the other. Sometimes it would be him and sometimes it would be me. He was the rookie of the year when we graduated and a few times, he went briefly insane and tried to kill me multiple times. It took really hard and struggling times before I finally managed to literally drag him home. It went from there when he finally became someone we could trust again, someone we knew was our comrade and fought for our home. Sasuke was scowling, looking annoyed as he watched the two screeching girls. I think they were probably arguing over Sasuke again. Good thing Ino finally fell in love with Shikamaru while Sakura was still struggling with Sasuke at that point. She did get him in the end thought, long after this picture was taken.

Bushy Brows Lee, TenTen, and Neji had been away on a mission that prevented them in the picture but it was okay, I had plenty of other pictures of them.

In between Hinata and Sasuke was myself; Naruko Uzumaki, age seventeen, the youngest of the picture but also the known strongest, not that I was bragging or anything. I grew out of bragging over my skills when I was thirteen and Sasuke left for the first time. I'm the smallest but that was because I had the hardest past, I didn't get fed as often as I should have as a child and it affected my growth in later life. I have sun kissed tan skin with little whisker like marks on my cheeks. When I grinned closed eyed in a certain way, it made me look like a fox. I had natural blonde hair, darker than Ino's. My hair was pulled into two pigtails on either side of my head and fell to just past my waist, lightly curling at the ends. My eyes were a bright blue coloring. I've been told lately that they were bluer than the sky or any ocean. I had a horrible childhood growing up straight from the beginning. My parents died protecting me the day I was born. My father had to do something horrible to insure our village's survival. A nine tailed demon fox, the strongest of all the nine demons, was sealed away inside of me. Since I was young and undeveloped, my body hadn't yet grown, and because I was his child, he sealed it inside of me. After all, how could he seal something so horrible inside of another's newborn child when he himself had his own? He believed that I would be able to protect everybody by keeping the demon at bay, that I was the only one that could. I live everyday honoring his wishes. I keep the demon at bay and protect this village, even though its people tried to destroy me countless times. I eventually won their hearts when I gave my very heart into protecting this village when we were attacked. I came home to cheering crowds, finally the hero I should have been from the very beginning. I've been through a lot of things that most people would have cracked long ago, but that was the thing with me. I was the unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja, most oddball of the village and yet the one with the most heart. I started off as loser and ended up becoming a hero. For those who know me, they know I've only used the demon's charkra a handful of times and each time I did was always because someone I loved was in danger of dying.

That was my life. My pain was hidden behind a smile I always kept on. I wanted to be friendly, to be loved, but that never seemed to happen. I eventually made friends with multiple people, including those in the photograph. But I never did find a love. Everybody in the village never wanted anything to do with me and after becoming a hero, only wanted to be able to flaunt dating the leaf village hero, even if they had been scorning me the day before I became a hero.

One more thing you should know about me. The fox entrapped inside me, we've become pretty good friends over time. He's not as evil as he once was, not caring about bloodshed but then again, not caring about much at all. He decided I was the only host he could trust so he gave me some of his own ability. I already had fast natured healing and able to use his chakra in pressing matters, but this time…he gave me his lifespan. Since the fox is made out of chakra energy and never died, that became the same for me. Eternal youth for the rest of who knows how long, I still never found someone who loved me in more than a friendship way.

I stayed in the village until the last of my friends had grown old and died. I left the village, leaving their children and grandchildren to watch over our home and protect it from invaders. I lived traveling from then, going from place to place. I stayed in one place for five years before I would leave. That was how young I could pretend to be before people would start questioning. Although I lived for centuries over time, I still looked the same I did when I was seventeen but my body allowed me to pretend I was fifteen sometimes. I usually stuck to sixteen and pretended I had aged to twenty one before moving on to another place mile away.

Time wore on and the modern age slowly came into existence with different gadgets and contraptions coming into time. I never did get close to anyone. I talked but never became friends with another. I had plenty of money saved up from the different career paths I would have. I couldn't just stick to one for centuries so I branched out and would think of something new after high school graduation. I hated high school but still went just to fit in with my 'peers'. I hid my ninja abilities since people forgot about the ninja world. They weren't important anymore so people stopped learning until there was nobody left with charkra to learn since they were never trained from childhood. People eventually forgot the ninja ways. Like I said, I hid my abilities but that didn't mean I stopped using them. I trained myself just like always so I wouldn't lose my touch.

I sighed as I tossed my picture frame on top of the clothes in my suitcase and zipped it up. I carried multiple bags with me as I left for the train station. I had a new place to go to so I needed to start a new life. I was going to La Push, Washington, half-Japanese foreign exchange student. My story was as usual when I was in America: my father was American who went to Japan on a business trip. It was there he met my mother, fell in love, and decided to stay. They married and had me but died when I was born, my mother in childbirth and my father protecting my mother before she died when someone tried to attack her. I was raised in an orphanage till I was thirteen when my godfather tracked me down and took me in. He died when I was sixteen from a gang robbing late one night. I got myself legally allowed to live on my own so I didn't need to live with an adult which would explain why I lived alone and had no adult supervision.

This was my life.

Days passed on the train as I went from station to station from Michigan to Washington. From there, I made it easily to my new house from there. It was a small single floor house. I didn't need much room considering it was only me. I had a living room with a couch and a few chairs scattered around. I put a few of my pictures on the mantle. I had dozens of them, a whole bag full although most of them were put in a scrapbook. On the mantle I put three pictures. One was of me and Iruka the day I graduated, leaf headband shining proudly on my thirteen year old head. The second was a picture of Jiraya and sixteen year old me, both with identical smirks into the camera. We had just arrived home from our three year training trip. The third was in the center, a picture of my parents before I was born. Both had wide smiles, their hands on my mom's heavily pregnant stomach, barely a month before I would be born and they would die.

My kitchen was a simple kitchen. I would need to go shopping soon, buy as much ramen as I could. Even centuries later, I could never get enough of this stuff. I blame the Uzumaki gene. I've heard my mom was obsessed with it too. I had a single bathroom I put my feminine products and bathing supplies into. My room was simple. A large bed in the middle with a desk and dresser; I put a few of my pictures and my clothes away. The rest was left to a scrap book and into a drawer in my bedside table. Three pictures made the spot for my other bedside table, so I could look at them every night before I fell asleep. One was my most precious picture I explained earlier in the center. On one side was another picture. This one held me, bushy brows, Neji, and Tenten. The other one on the other side held myself and my dear friends; Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. I'm not sure if Gaara ever lived like I did. I know he lived longer than others but we've lost touch over the centuries.

My final room was a room that was locked. I quickly made a seal on it so it was locked unless my charkra was used to open it. It was in here I made a shrine for each of my friends as to never be forgotten. I put many different small blocks that reached my knees in a circle around the room. On top of each was a single picture and something that reminded me of them.

On one block was a picture of a smiling Sakura. I put her leather gloves she used so often on the floor at the block. Another block held Sasuke, this one had his katana blade in front of it, I've never used it myself. A block held Hinata's picture that had the folded up jacket she wore to shyly hide her figure in her youth. Another block held Kiba and Akamaru, this one held a dog collar and leash, representing dog and master, or…friends. One block held Shino and in front of his was an empty glass jar, he used to use it to capture his bugs. A block held Ino's grinning face, in front of it was a book on flowers she had been reading when she died. Another block held Shikamaru, lazy as ever, and in front of it was a shouji bored game. One was of Chouji with a bag he used to carry his chips around in. A block held Tenten with one of her short blades she often used, a weapon master. Another block held Neji and this one was a drawing he had once drawn on a whim, of a bird breaking free of its cage. A block held Lee and his horrid leg warmers in front of it. One picture held Temari in it with a small version of her fan she had as a child. One block held Kankaru with the now dried up bottles that once held his 'war paint'. One block held Gaara and in front of it was a small mini plate with a lid filled to the brim with sand I collected from a dessert. One black held Iruka and the headband he once gave me but I hadn't wore since I left the village. One picture held Kakashi and in front of him was one of his many masks. Another block held Jiraya and his first book, tales of a gutsy ninja. A final picture held Tsunade. She had nothing in front of hers but that was because I wore it, her necklace that once belonged to her grandfather that she passed down to me when we met. The room was dim, the only light being the charkra glowing picture frames that lit each youthful face up. Those were my family and I kept their memory alive by recreating this shrine every time I moved to another place. As long as one people remembered them, then their lives won't be forgotten with the rest of the ninja world.

In the basement I also kept locked with carkra was my own personal training room, decked out to the core with all my ninja things in tip top shape. Although I did have book cases across on one side of the room, filled with my ninja books from things long forgotten.

I stopped my hard day of working when my stomach started to growl. "Ugh, I'm starving and I want food." I moaned, heading upstairs with an achy growling stomach. I decided the best course of action was to go buy dinner. I could get groceries tomorrow; I would sign up for school then to. I was claiming to be sixteen this time.

I walked for a while before I finally found a small place to eat in this town. I was never one for the big expensive place over the top with fine china and fancy clothing and whatnot. I was perfectly fine with and actually preferred small places. They often had the better tasting food anyway, and better company compared to the stuck up rude rich people type that I've run across from time to time. I still never got along with people like that.

I didn't realize at the time or that moment, stepping into this dinner, stepping into this town alone…it would forever change my life.

I entered the small diner. The place wasn't overcrowded. A few people in the boots, a couple at tables, exactly what you'd expect to find in a small diner so nothing was surprising. I stepped up to the counter and flipped open a menu I found there. I scanned it quickly, looking for what sounded food. They didn't have ramen but they had pasta. Nah, I'll just buy ramen at the grocery store tomorrow, I'll eat something else tonight. I still loved ramen but at least I didn't eat it for every meal nowadays, I've grown up a little in my time alone.

"Hello, I'm Sue, you must be new in town?" I glanced up at the middle-aged Native American woman in front of me behind the counter.

"That obvious?" I quirked.

Sue nodded smiling kindly, "It's a small town, everybody knows everybody kind."

"Just how I like it," I muttered sarcastic. Small town meant small things happening. It also meant that people would be curious and try to get to close. That never ended up well, I usually dragged myself away from people.

"So, what can I get you?" Sue questioned, pulling out her notepad and pen.

I glanced back down at the menu again. "I'll have this, and this…and this," I pointed at random dishes on the menu. I seemed to have half the menu when I was finished.

Sue wrote it all down, looking stunned, "Are you sure you can eat all this?" she asked concerned.

I smiled innocently, not at all surprised by the question. I was used to eating a lot. My carkra usually burned the calories, plus with my training, I stayed just as I always had, thin and small little body without an inch of fat on me. It was all a thin layer of muscle, the innocent look hiding how strong I really was. I was the master of deception, an innocent little girl that could secretly kill in seconds. "Don't worry, I have a high metabolism." I usually used that excuse. Most people looked at me like I was stupid thinking I couldn't possibly eat that much, let along stay fit while doing so.

Sue nodded and chuckled, "I feed my children and you eat nearly as much as they do. I'll be sure to get your food out as quickly as possible." She said, heading into the kitchen with my order. I raised my eyebrow curiously. Nearly? Did that mean her children ate more than me, how was that possible (most people got sick from the amount) or did they eat more with them both combined. Oh well, what did I care about a couple eating habits, didn't concern me in the least.

I didn't look up as I started to sip the water that was set in front of me. Not even when the door opened and I heard a bunch of loud male voices, talking and laughing the way teenagers did. Teenagers with friends at least, I hadn't been so carefree since my first godchild from Neji and Tenten was born. Apparently I changed Neji enough during the Chunin exam that he changed his mindset which led him to admitting his feelings for Tenten. Getting bored, I chanced a glance over my shoulder at the new company.

My eyes were drawn to a group of boys that were pulling two tables together to fit them all. The boys were huge, looking more like men than anything. Bulging muscles with cutoff shorts and shirts that were too tight. Made me wonder if they were taking steroids or something to get that huge-that could not be natural. Then again, what did I know about natural? However, before I could turn away, one of the giant like people who was about to sit down with his friends looked up and our eyes connected. I don't know what exactly happened. All I know is some kind of…jolt, went through me. Something happened, something I didn't understand. But the guy, he looked at me. His jaw dropped slack, his eyes were wide and filled with amazement, joy…love? For me? I didn't know the guy, he should not be looking at me like he loved me. In short, he looked at me like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.

The other guys seemed to realize what he was looking at and glanced between him and me. They seemed to notice something was going on because I think they started to congratulate him, patting him on his back and everything. He just kept looking at me with this stunned expression on his face.

"Here's your food dear," Sue announced, holding a huge tray and started setting the different foods in front of me.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed loudly in a true Naruko fashion. "Not if only the huge guy wasn't staring at me?" I stated, eagerly digging into my food.

"Huge guy?" Sue looked over my shoulder to the guy at the table where he was no doubt still staring at me. Something about that stare unnerved me, it was different from how people usually looked at me. I honestly didn't know if I liked it or not. Either way, it was unnerving.

Sue seemed to realize exactly who I was talking about.

"Wha?" I looked up surprised when Sue squealed in what I thought was very different from what her character seemed about her.

But Sue eagerly raced around the counter. I shrieked surprise, the noise muffled from the spoon I had shoved in my mouth a second before when she suddenly hugged me. "Welcome to the family dear!" she looked so happily, holding me tight. When she finally pulled back but still didn't let me go, she seemed to have tears in her eyes.

"Um…thank you," my voice was muffled by the spoon, staring at her completely stunned. She did a complete one eighty. And what was with the whole welcome to the family thing? I never had a family, my friends were all the family I ever had and that ended ages ago. Literally, as in your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents hadn't even been a thought in existence when I was born.

"Oh, of course," Sue looked embarrassed. "You don't know…you don't realize what you're doing to my family." Sue looked misty eyed.

"You're right, I don't," I said around my spoon, quickly swallowing my last bite. It was a huge meal and I seemed to finish it pretty quickly on. Not surprising for someone who once won an eating contest against Chouji and Lee. "But I'm finished so I really should be going." I dropped my money for the food after quick cost calculations and left the correct amount.

"Come back soon!" Sue called after me.

"I just might," I grinned. It was actually pretty good. I stopped when I reached the huge boy and his friends. I looked him straight in the eyes for a few seconds, tilting my head to the side. He was cute, really cute, I'll give him that. But… "You know, the staring gets really annoying really quickly. Next time, try talking a little,"

He started stuttering out a response but I didn't stop to here. I just bowed my head, letting my bangs cover my eyes as I walked out, letting the door flutter close behind me. I started down the streets, burying my hands in my pocket. It didn't take long to make it home, small town so it was easier to get to places instead of the big cities I've been to. Also a lot less dangerous. Although there wasn't much danger of a ninja. The muggers and dangerous people of today's time aren't nearly as bad as what I faced when I was a little kid so it wasn't hard to take down someone who thought they could jump me. I didn't think that would be much of a problem in this small town. This town was the kind where everyone's grandparents went to school together and were like best friends and known each other forever kind.

When I made it home, I stopped long enough to change into my pajamas, yawning the whole way. A full stomach was the best way to fall asleep with. I fell asleep far too many times in my youth with an empty stomach, I was fully ready to take advantage of being able to eat whenever I want. People nowadays didn't know me, I was nothing more than a face in the crowd. Of course, a different face in this crowd considering I was a blue eyed natural blonde in a Native American Reservation but oh well, what could you do?

I could feel a strong connection to this place, stomach in my instincts telling me to stay. And I wasn't Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze for nothing, I practically lived on my instincts that have kept me alive for so many years.

My pajama's consisted of me pulling my hair free of its ponytails, an orange skimpy tank top, and long sleeve orange pajama pants. I fell down face first into my bed and burred myself in the covers, yanking them over my shivering body. I looked at the pictures on my bedside table as my eyes fluttered closed. For some reason, my last thought wasn't about my lonely existence, but the face of that cute guy at the diner staring at me.

As my mind left the conscious world, I could swear I heard a wolf howling nearby.


End file.
